You and I might view Hunt’s journey after that as either a mysterious tragedy that altered Hunt’s life forever, or as intangible proof the human spirit cannot be destroyed.

For Hunt, it’s actually a little of both.

She ran the full marathon after 11 years of recreational jogging. She trained for it, she did it, then she looked forward to an Austin marathon a few months later.

Her body, however, had other plans. For weeks after the San Antonio run, Hunt felt she had the flu. Then, inexplicably, her left leg began to hurt.

She got sicker. Finally, on New Year’s Day 2012 —two days after her 42nd birthday — loved ones rushed her to the hospital.

“I might have overdone my training, and maybe that weakened my immune system,” she says. “I still don’t know exactly what happened and why. It’s still a bit of a gray area.”

After 18 hours in the hospital, doctors were clueless, too. Her skin was not broken, and she showed no other risk factors for any disease that would lead to her health failing in that way.

They sent her home. She was back 24 hours, even sicker this time. Her organs were shutting down, and she was showing signs of heart failure.

An initial surgical procedure on the leg during that second visit showed traces of necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating bacteria. A second procedure conducted 12 hours later showed the bacteria suddenly was spreading all over the leg.

During the next four weeks, doctors would induce comas and put her on life support for weeks at a time in order to keep her alive.

Doctors were prepared to amputate the leg in order to save her life. An orthopedic specialist, however, suggested an alternative at the 11th hour.

It was only slightly less radical.

The medical term is debridement, but in English, doctors skinned her leg down to muscle and bone.

That was part of 25 surgeries Hunt has endured. She was in and out of San Antonio Military Medical Center until April 2012. She left in a wheelchair and spent two weeks at a Warm Springs rehabilitation facility learning to walk again.

Most recently, she has undergone a set of reconstructive surgical procedures designed to give her a normal-looking left leg.